Apple Maps, Bing Maps and Google Maps have all changed their Maps software and apps to now display Gulf of America on the body of water that’s been known as the Gulf of Mexico since the 16th century.
Google began to populate the change on Feb. 10, and Apple just a day later, on Feb. 11. Since then, Microsoft’s Bing Maps has also made the change.
“We are committed to providing users with accurate and up-to-date information,” a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement. “In accordance with established product policies, we are updating Bing Maps to reflect the Geographic Names Information System’s nomenclature in the United States, which includes changing the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America in the US.”
Type “Gulf of Mexico” in to Google Maps or Bing Maps and the sites change your search to “Gulf of America.” In Apple Maps, typing “Gulf of Mexico” changes the search to “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”
One maps site, MapQuest, still labels the Gulf as the Gulf of Mexico as of Feb. 18. A search for Gulf of America takes users to the correct location of the gulf and maintains the label as Gulf of Mexico.
A representative for Mapquest didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maps sites say the change is determined by region
Before Apple began to make the change, some people on social media said that Google’s adoption of the name change was enough to make them switch to alternate map software from Apple and Microsoft. One person wrote on X, “It gives me no pleasure to announce that Apple Maps and Bing Maps are not superior to Google.”
A representative for Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Google said in late January it would be making the change after an executive order from President Donald Trump called for renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. Google said in a series of social media posts that it was complying with Global Navigation Information Systems data and that it would take some time for the update to go through. On Feb. 10, Google published a blog post letting users know what they will see in its software.
In the post, the company said, “The names you see in the Maps app are based on your country location, which is determined by information from your phone’s operating system (e.g., iOS and Android), including your SIM, network and locale. If you’re using Google Maps on the web, the names are based on the region you select in your Search settings or your device’s location, if you haven’t selected one.”
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